Consultant spotlight: Liz Campbell

Q&A with Liz Campbell

1. What motivates you?

Doing great, impactful work for clients and building a relationship with them which moves beyond being credible and reliable to them trusting you to do a great job. In Lane4 it is seeing our fantastic talent developing and doing amazing things. At home my family and seeing my 2 children developing into great young adults and also I love going for long walks with Monty and Murphy (2 dogs).

2. How do you handle pressure?

Plan, try to priortise what is really important and then remind myself that whilst what we do is really important, it isn’t life and death.

3. What will change most about the world of work in the next few years?

The use of technology to connect, solve problems across continents and assist learning. Also the importance of going beyond delivering good results (a given) but being an organization that has a social conscious.

4. What’s your defining career moment so far?

Designing and delivering ‘Making Sainsburys great again’.

6. What’s your favourite sport to business lesson or story?

A GB Wheelchair basketball coach I worked with was continually telling and then shouting at players at European Championships to ‘stick the ball in the basket’. One of the mature players, whom I had known for several years, took me to one side and said ‘if he tells us that one more time I’m going to go crazy. We know it isn’t going in, how can he help us work out why….’ Great management of people is not about telling them what isn’t working, they usually know, but instead about helping them to work out why it isn’t working and creating ideas to correct it and improve performance.

7. What makes you proud?

I have several individuals that I have had the pleasure of working with over many years and it is fantastic to see how their careers have progressed to become CEOs and some taking on new CEO roles that having challenging transformation agendas. I feel very proud when they contact me and say “Liz can we catch up to see how we might work together on my most recent challenge”. Also, seeing Dan Wallis (Consultant) and Will Bordill (Account Executive) secure a retail transformation piece work – they worked brilliantly with the customer to design a fantastic solution

8. What makes you angry?

People not being treated fairly. My son and husband being so messy!!!! Individuals not putting effort in and, if something goes wrong, blaming others.

9. Which leader do you most admire most and why?

Barak Obama – to be the first black president and attempt to reform and just keep going even though continually facing setbacks…. Really ‘nice’ guy, appears really grounded and cares for his family.

10.What are your best and worst characteristics?

Best – work hard and care for people. Worst – not listening properly and getting frustrated if things are not going the way I think they should!!!

11. What would you like to learn and why?

I would love to learn to dance because I am so rubbish.

12. If you could choose anybody, who would you be for a day?

My mother in law. She is the most amazing lady who is caring, loyal and at times so honest it could be seen as brutal!!!

13. Who would you like to invite for a dinner party, living or dead?

My brother who died when I was 17 – I would love him to meet my family.

14. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

You need to learn to self-regulate (given to me by Adrian Moorhouse our MD)

15. What would your motto be (if you haven’t already got one)?

Never ever give in…

16. What personal value would you never compromise?

Care